It’s no secret that I went on a rant back in April about ARCs and the, what I consider, to be outdated rules for allowing those ARCs to be put into the hands of people who would actually read and review them, to get the news out about amazing stories to come… even if their numbers aren’t in the stratosphere of the blogging world.  I finished out my required reviews for April — and then took a break from all three of my blogs.  I went and lost myself in the newest patch in World of Warcraft and let the anger and frustration I was feeling be useful in taking down the bad guys in my escape video game world.

I was this *measures about a 16th of an inch between thumb & forefinger* close to just walking away completely.

Now, let’s get something out there.  I do not, and never have done any blogging to get “free books”.  Never, ever.  I can buy as many books as I want without needing freebies.  Oh, and by the way, that “free” concept involves my time to read, my resources to have a website (that I pay for, hosting, etc.), write up my thoughts about any book, spend time making sure that post is seen on numerous other sites to spread the word like Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, etc. …seems kinda a lot for a “free” book, right?

In my time away, I got the chance to think of why I do this.  Of why I put in the time and effort for no reward beyond the friendships (online acquaintances) I’ve made with other romance novel readers and authors.  And the answer is simple.  I love talking about books, I enjoy meeting an author that I’ve loved their work for years on Twitter.  That feeling matters to me.  And, bottom line, I’d be a fool to let a few publishers’ reasons for not awarding ARCs take that good feeling away from me (or any other blogger who is questioning why we do this).  Frankly, that’s totally on them because they lost the chance for a good review of their authors’ books being out there for other readers to read.  I don’t buy or request any book that I don’t think going in that I’ll enjoy.  *shrugs*

I will buy books.  But I’m going to cut back on the ARC requests.  If I love an author’s work, then I’ll look to see if they have an ARC team.  Booksprout still exists, as do other places to find ARCs.  And of course, there’s my handy dandy credit card which works just fine to purchase anything that I want to read.

Nope.  Not going to give up something I love.  I’ll just turn away from asking for ARCs from publishers that I know probably wouldn’t have approved me anyways… so why ask for unnecessary frustrations, right?

Now, it’s time to get back to what I love.  Talking about books that I’ve read…

🙂